Abstract
In this lecture I will try to give you an overview of the current status of Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) in the Netherlands and in Europe. After a short introduction concerning the subject and a brief description of CPR in a historical perspective, I will go on with a description of Basic Life Support (BLS) as it is advised and performed in the Netherlands and in the rest of Europe. I will talk about the different BLS-CPR schemes that (used to) exist in Europe, and the controversy between the ABC and CAB schemes. I will describe the proven and suggested advantages and disadvantages of both schemes.
Thereafter I will go into the subject “CPR without rescue ventilation” , because different studies suggest that the importance of the P-part (Pulmonary-part) in CPR is overestimated, and that under certain circumstances BLS without rescue ventilation is as good as the more common variant BLS with ventilation. These studies can also be used to support the CAB sequence or so to say the “Dutch view on BLS” .
After a summary I will come to a conclusion.
